Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT 7-11 January 2019 (3911-3915)

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Gyrre:
It took a bit to find it, but here's George Carlin going over the misuse of common phrases (including "copping out").

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn9elWR13Z4

Cornelius:

--- Quote from: Tova on 07 Jan 2019, 18:46 ---Hi Case, you've made good points as always.


--- Quote from: Case on 07 Jan 2019, 16:48 ---TL;DR - when people talk about 'conflict' and 'resolution' - and especially about 'plot' - I'm a bit confused as to what they mean or expect.

--- End quote ---

In storytelling terms, the term 'conflict' is quite a bit broader than what it means in everyday terms. Normally, it would mean a disagreement or fight. But in storytelling, it usually takes the form of a gap between desire and reality.

Usually, there is an external conflict and a corresponding internal conflict. For instance, take Faye, and the conflict set up by The Talk. You could say that her external conflict was that she wanted a relationship and stability. Her internal conflict was that she needed to overcome her abandonment issues. And while it's true that this is a slice of life comic, the throughline of where she was at The Talk to where she is now (in a stable relationship) is probably the most successful arc in QC.

I think that this throughline has in fact set up an expectation among the QC audience that there will be dramatic arcs within the overall setting of the daily slice of life. And I get the impression occasionally that one is being set up. Often, I don't comment on this when it appears to be magically resolved because it is always possible that Jeph is playing the long game. He certainly did that with the slow burn of the Marten/Dora relationship, where they would 'talk it out' periodically and it would kind of appear that the issue was resolved, but of course it was not. And while Jeph has resolved the external conflict of that story, the internal ones largely remain.

--- End quote ---

I think that really does sum it up. Perhaps it's helpful, to think of conflict, here, as the elements that provide narrative tension. Tension seems to be pretty central to the western experience of art, as it's a concept you'll find everywhere. Plot derives from that,  as it is what is needed to set up that tension, and it's eventual release, or resolution.

What the plot is, exactly, isn't always directly obvious from the beginning, and neither is the central conflict always immediately obvious. But I think all that has been argued pretty thoroughly in the posts above.

On the other hand, I think the point Case tried to make was also that there is not necessarily one central conflict in QC, or overarching plot. Which is probably true. We don't need to hold onto the story as it started, as that's ended; we're still in its continuity, but the story has gone elsewhere.


--- Quote from: Tova on 07 Jan 2019, 18:46 ---Do bear in mind that I am deliberately avoiding phrasing my thoughts in terms of Jeph's intentions. I am really more concerned about audience expectations and how they are fulfilled or otherwise. As one frequent poster so likes to remind us, intent is not magic.

--- End quote ---

Lesson one in literature studies, or just about: beware the auctorial fallacy. However tempting and obvious it may seem, you cannot ever know the author's intentions, unless they unequivocally state them outside of the work you're trying to interpret. And even then, that's not necessarily relevant, as the work is more important. Caveat lector: Whatever your interpretations or opinions are, they are the result of your own interaction with the work.

pwhodges:
From an earlier post:

[quote author=TV4Fun link=topic=34313.msg1419415#msg1419415 date=1546913362]
[quote author=Case link=topic=34313.msg1419413#msg1419413 date=1546909959]
[quote author=TV4Fun link=topic=34313.msg1419412#msg1419412 date=1546908506]
[quote author=dutchrvl link=topic=34313.msg1419406#msg1419406 date=1546897546]
[quote author=Tova link=topic=34313.msg1419400#msg1419400 date=1546890149]
[quote author=dutchrvl link=topic=34313.msg1419392#msg1419392 date=1546880119]
[quote author=TV4Fun link=topic=34313.msg1419388#msg1419388 date=1546878962]
[quote author=AJ_ link=topic=34313.msg1419379#msg1419379 date=1546864348]
[quote author=TV4Fun link=topic=34313.msg1419366#msg1419366 date=1546836919]

Administrator Comment It's a long time since I bothered to make a fuss about it, but people have recently become really profligate with their quoting. It actually makes it harder to read a conversation when it reaches the point that you have to scroll in a single post to find where the new bit is. Trimming quotes to the points you are replying to is not hard, makes your own contribution easier to find and place in context, and is a courtesy to other forum users. The oldest post in the block shown above as an example had been quoted nine times! Would people prefer me to turn on the facility that removes multiple quotes automatically? That has downsides too, but perhaps the result would be more like other social media in which quoting is not so easy to abuse.

pwhodges:
Oh, and as for conflict in today's comic, I note that Roko hasn't yet had a chance to feel how well her mind integrates with this body.  We all know how different samples of anything can vary just through normal manufacturing variability, so I am waiting to see how this body responds to bread, for instance.  Tomorrow's comic may well be at the bakery; and even if Roko is satisfied, I will have experienced a day's (mild!) tension waiting for that answer.

brasca:
You’d think if the emblem was so important Roko’s new body would have thong underpants to show it off.  Those look like hot pants.

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